The Best Part of the Evening
by navitor3
Summary: A ZoNa valentine one-shot.


**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or its characters.**

-V-

Zoro watched her with her card, her bouquet of roses and her box of chocolates. He could see the woman looked anything but excited about it all. "Aren't women supposed to like that kinda thing?" he asked.

"Huh?" Nami said. "Of course, I like it." She stood up from the bench, picking up the items the cook had just given her a few minutes ago at the dining table, with Zoro observing from where he'd been resting, on the floor – next to the table. Nami made to leave the galley.

"Well, you don't look happy," Zoro added, closing his eyes.

She stopped on the other side of the table. "What do _you _care? Sanji-kun was very considerate. Of course I appreciate the gifts, but – "

Zoro unscrewed his eyes again. "You want more," he said.

Nami looked like she would laugh. "Wha – ?"

"You want more than just gifts. You want a man," he said.

Nami's mouth gaped open. "I don't know what you're talking about and how dare you say something like that to me," she said with a frown.

Zoro stood up. "I just meant, you're a passionate person...and ero-cook will never give you passion. Only crazy declarations of love and silly cards and flowers." He slipped his swords on to his hip.

Nami watched him, stunned. "What's with you?" she asked. "Since when do _you _talk about such things?" She huffed. "I have to get dressed for the dinner Sanji-kun is taking me to. You know, in a very classy restaurant? Something _you _wouldn't know anything about."

"So you'll have a spiffy meal with an idiot. Yeah, that sounds very memorable," he said with obvious sarcasm and stretched himself out.

"At least he has manners and will treat me very well!" she threw back, still standing on the same spot and not moving.

Zoro stuck his hands into his pockets and considered her words. Then his eyes slowly found hers. Nami saw the intensity in his glare. Zoro patiently moved around the table, coming closer to her. She didn't back away. A silence fell over the room, only Zoro's boots making a sound as he walked, his sheathed swords, lightly clanging against each other. Then the plastic wrapped around Nami's bouquet of roses rustled a bit when her fingers,involuntarily, slackened their hold on it. She gulped. Zoro stopped right in front of her, not leaving much space between them. He kept looking into her eyes. They were large as they stared back at him. He wondered if she would let him touch her. He wanted to touch her. This would be the moment he would make a move on her. Do something he'd wanted to do for some time. He was tired of watching the cook twirl around her with drinks and treats. Zoro believed she wanted more. He could see it in everything she did. She was not just about little gestures. She looked for excitement, for a thrill. And it was exactly what he thought _he_ could give her. He wanted to know if he was right. But before he could show her any passion, he would have to try something he had never tried before. _Ever_. For the first time in his life, Zoro would have to try to kiss a girl.

"Look, Zoro – " Nami said, trying to break eye contact with him but her voice trailed off. She wanted to know what he would do next. She liked the thrill his closeness was sending through her body. A reaction Sanji's affections never caused in her – _ever_. Nami felt herself stop breathing. Would he kiss her? She couldn't fathom that that would happen. It was Zoro, after all. Her arch nemesis on the merry. Why would he want to kiss her? Why would she kiss him back? She _wanted _to kiss him back. She _wanted _a kiss from him. And...she was learning that it might not be so bad to have her first kiss happen – with him. But what kind of kiss would it be? She'd always imagined that if she kissed a guy...one day, that it would be gentle and patient. But Zoro had spoken of passion.

Zoro lifted his hand to her cheek, knowing he was taking a huge risk. Knowing she could slap his hand away and laugh at him. But she didn't. His fingertips reached her cheek, lightly brushing against her very soft skin. He kept looking into her eyes. Nami felt herself quiver, her body weakening under his glance. Zoro shifted his glance to her lips. They were parted, just as his were. As if Nami was wondering things just as he was. His palm covered her cheek as he slowly bent down, bringing his lips to hers. He looked into her eyes again, still wanting to know if she'd let him do it. Let him touch her lips with his. Zoro lightly wet the inside of his lips with the tip of his tongue as he moved. Nami maintained eye-contact, staring into his eyes as his face got closer. At the final moment, just as their lips touched, her eyes travelled to his mouth. Zoro's glance had shifted to her mouth too, to make sure he kissed her exactly on the lips. Neither of them closed their eyes, only tried to make eye contact again. The kiss was just a little peck but Zoro kept their lips connected for a few seconds before slowly pulling away. His palm, slipping off her cheek as well. Nami blinked and Zoro gulped.

"What was that?" she asked. Her voice almost a whisper. In no way was she disappointed in the kiss. The navigator was still recovering from the feelings he awoke in her but she had expected he would go at her. Not be so gentle and considerate.

Zoro looked at her, knowing she had expected more from him after he had spoken of passion. The swordsman looked taken aback now. He had no idea how to kiss a girl properly. He'd hoped that once his first kiss had been taken care of, the rest would just come naturally but there was no flow. He didn't know how to kiss with passion.

Nami was confused. He had just kissed her – on the lips. Touched her cheek, softly. 'Passionate' would be the last word she'd use to describe the kiss. The only word which came to mind was...sweet. Suddenly, it dawned on her. "Was that your first kiss?" she asked, awkwardly, but desperate to know the answer.

Zoro felt his cheeks redden. Was it that obvious – did his inexperience shine through so clearly? "What kind of question is that?" he asked, offended. "Just forget it." He made to walk away.

"Wait a minute!" she said. "Don't do something so out of character like that and then just walk away without an explanation." She roughly dropped Sanji's gifts on to the table. "That kiss wasn't passionate. You claimed I wanted passion so what was that?"

Zoro bit on his teeth. He couldn't believe what he had gotten himself into. "It was a kiss. Ero-cook never kisses you so I just gave you something you never get. So whatever."

"No," she said. "No, you spoke of passion." Nami eyed him with suspicion as she closed the space between them. "You were going to show me more than that little kiss. So what happened?"

Zoro gulped again. "Wasn't the kiss enough, woman?" he asked. "You didn't put a fight up so I took that you were okay with it." It was Nami's turn to blush now. She avoided his eyes and in that instant, Zoro saw the look on her face. He saw her innocence. "Nami," he said, stunned.

The navigator shrugged. "It was my first kiss, okay?" she admitted. A shy smile creeping over her lips. Zoro's frown lifted from his face. It was a very unexpected thing to have happened between them. Instead of proving a point, they had shared a special moment that they never would have seen coming, not in their wildest dreams. "So...was it your first kiss?" Nami asked, breaking through his thoughts.

"Yeah," he admitted in an even tone. She smiled again, not able to get over what they had done on _that _day of all days.

"Happy valentine's day, moron," she said, still smiling.

Zoro scoffed. "Happy valentine's day, witch," he responded, giving her a teasing glare.

"Well, who needs passion, right?" she asked without really asking and was about to escape the galley.

"You forgot your stuff," Zoro said.

"Oh, yeah." She went back to pick up the dumped gifts and then tried to pass Zoro again but he suddenly placed his palm behind her neck and grabbed on to her left arm, pulling her towards him. Zoro pressed his lips to hers. He tried to kiss her differently than before. His lips didn't part any further than they had with the first kiss but he planted them against Nami's lips with some aggression. The navigator met his aggression. She pushed back as best she could. They breathed heavy through their nostrils. Not quite feeling that that was right. But that didn't really matter at the moment.

Passion was all that mattered.

Nami's arms found their way around his waist, her hands still holding Sanji's gifts. The plastic of the bouquet and the plastic over the box of chocolates, scraped against Zoro's t-shirt covered back. The navigator wanted to just drop the items on to the floor – so she did. Zoro's left arm snaked around her waist and he wrapped his other arm around her shoulders, holding her tightly against him. Nami touched his back with her palms, her fingers remaining still, not experienced in touching someone with need. Zoro finally broke the kiss and they gasped over each other's lips, as if they'd been holding their breath the whole time. Nami's fingertips now scratched over his back, lightly, and Zoro's palm moved over her back while they looked into each other's eyes. Both carrying amused expressions on their faces. Then they separated. "Shit," Nami said, rushing to pick up the once again dumped items and causing Zoro to smirk. "Alright." She stood up again. "I have to go change." Zoro opened the door for her. "Thanks," she said in a sarcastic and yet teasing tone.

"Don't get used to it," he responded with a smirk. "Enjoy your dinner," he added, not trying to sound convincing.

"Oh...yeah...thanks," Nami said in the doorway, only now remembering why she had to go change.

"You still don't sound excited," Zoro mentioned when she stepped out on to the balcony with her items. "In fact, you look even less interested than before."

The navigator kept her eyes off him. "Of course," she said. "the best part of the night has already happened. Nothing can top that now." She took a glimpse his way and their eyes met. A hungry smile came over Zoro's lips and Nami made sure to escape the intense glare showing in his eyes again, before she'd be tempted to continue the best part of the evening.

-V-

**A/N: I actually wanted to put up a valentine chapter for one of my other stories (yes, C-Nuggets N.L, if you're reading this, your guess was right, lol) but it's far from done and so will have to be put up at a later stage. I quickly did this one-shot to at least help spread some ZoNa love on this special day:). Even though it's no longer valentine's day in my country, hahaha. **

**Happy Valentine's day (or belated valentine's day), people! :)**


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